Meant to Be
by Dede13
Summary: Edward has had a simple life, he was raised in a small town and is now a doctor at the hospital. Bella's life has been anything but simple, at the age of 25 she is a single mother of 3 with a lot of baggage. Bella and Edward meet one day at the grocery store and immediately hit it off, but sometimes it's just not that easy.
1. Chapter 1

**So this is a new story but it comes from my previous story Popular Bella. It is the same character just at a different place in their lives and having gone through different experience when they were younger. I will be removing that story soon as this story will take its place. I hope you all really enjoy reading this and please leave a review at the end !**

Chapter 1:

**Edward**

I never thought it would be this difficult. I have a newfound respect for anyone who comes to the grocery store with their children. Well, they're either a better person than I or absolutely insane for embarking on the venture.

Ashley and I were sent to the grocery store by my mother to get a few more groceries for the upcoming Christmas holiday.

Now, I love my niece Ashley, but she is rambunctious child and doesn't like to sit still for long periods of time and is an explorer.

"No, Ash, we don't need that, let's put it back on the shelf," I try to say calmly. This is not the first time that I've said the exact same sentence since we've been in the store today.

"But, Uncle Eddie, I want some cookies," she pouted.

"Ashley, there are cookies at home, Nana just made some before she left," I promised.

"Chocolate chip?" she smiled.

"Yes," I said back, hoping that we could just grab what we needed and get out of here before she had a melt-down begging for something else.

I'm not quite sure how I got myself into this situation, I was sitting at my parents' house spending some time with my mom and my niece who was there being babysat. Ashley's parents were doing some last minute Christmas shopping and needed someone to look after Ashley so my mom volunteered.

Ashley is my brother's daughter, Emmett and his wife Rosalie got married 7 years ago, only a couple years after they graduated high school. Ashley was a surprise for them but they couldn't have been happier. Ashley has dark brown curls all the way down her back, taking after my brother, but her beautiful face comes from her mother, pale skin and proportionate features.

I was over spending some time with Ashley and my mom since my dad was working at the hospital today. My mom was getting ready to send me to the grocery store to pick up some stuff that she needed for the next couple days when she got a call from of hers who needed some help with something or another- my mom has always been a giving person and is always willing to help anyone out.

She told me that she needed to get right over there and asked if I could just bring Ashley with me to the grocery store. Me, not thinking that this was a big deal, said yes and off we went to the nearest store to get some cranberries, bread, and vegetables.

_Crash! _

I'm awoken from my daydreaming by my cart crashing into the cart of a woman. She is very pretty and has three small children with her. One of them looks about Ashley's age and the other two look a lot younger.

"I'm so sorry, I really should've been paying more attention to where I was going," I apologized.

"Oh, no, it's alright, I wasn't paying much attention either," she replied. Her voice was beautiful.

She didn't seem old enough to have a child Ashley's age, let alone three. I assume the two babies are twins.

"Emily!" Ashley shouted suddenly.

"Ashley!" the little girl shouted back.

"Emily, don't shout please, it's rude," the woman told the small child.

"Bella, this is my best friend from daycare! 'Member I was telling you about her!" the little girl, Emily I'm assuming, exclaimed. Well if she's calling the woman by her name, she is probably not her daughter, perhaps a sister or a niece?

But I finally had a name of the beautiful woman who stood in front of me. She looked about three years younger than me.

"Yes, Em, I remember but we don't need to shout, how about you say hi quickly? Then we need to get going and get the boys home for playtime so that we can make some cookies for the neighbours," the woman suggested

The girls started talking and I stood there awkwardly not knowing what to do.

"Hi, I'm Edward," I smiled at the woman and held out my hand.

"I'm Bella," she said back with a small smile. She was holding something back from me I could tell but I guess you don't reveal your secrets to a stranger in a grocery store. "It seems that Emily is rather taken with your daughter."

"Oh, um, she's not my daughter, she's my niece. Her parents are out for the day and my mom was watching her but got called away and needed some things at the grocery store so I ended up having to bring her with me," I explained.

"I see, grocery shopping with children is certainly not easy," she smiled. "I'm just glad two of mine are asleep."

"Is Emily your daughter? She called you by your name earlier…" I mentioned. It might seem a bit rude but I was really curious and I had told her my story.

"No, she's actually my sister but I have custody of her," she said sadly. I knew there was something else there and I wanted to know but it wasn't the time nor the place to get into it.

"Well, that's very noble of you to take care of her, are your boys twins?" I asked trying to direct the attention somewhere else.

"Yes, they are about 13 months, Kyle and Jason," she smiled.

"Wow, I can't imagine having one newborn, none the less two," I told her. "You and your husband must have been going crazy."

"Uh, actually, it's just me," she said.

"I'm awful! I can't believe I keep bringing things up that make you have that sad look in your eyes, I'm really sorry, how about you direct our conversation from now on?" I apologized.

"It's alright, I'm used to it. At least you asked and didn't make assumptions about how I was a terrible young teenage mother who was looking for a father for her child and managed got pregnant a second time from another guy and then he left me for someone else," she said.

"People have actually said that to you?" I'm astonished.

"Well, not in so many words, but you can tell by the looks and there have been some comments made that give that impression. Like, I mean, I'm 25, and Emily is 5 so even if she was my daughter I would have been 20 when she was born and I was 23 when the boys were born, I mean, that's not that young to have children," she ranted.

"I agree. But, I must say you don't look 25," I told her.

"Well, thank you, some days I feel like I'm 80 I'm so exhausted from the day," she laughed.

"My sister-in-law says the same thing sometimes," I smiled.

"So, Edward, what do you do?" she asked me.

"Well, I'm 27, and I'm a doctor at the hospital, I'm finishing my internship right now. What about you?" I told her.

"Wow, that's great. It's a bit of a complicated story for me right now but I'm not working at the moment, I just moved back to Forks a month ago but before I moved here, I lived in California and I worked at a daycare and I'm hoping to start up a home daycare here if there is enough interest. It seems weird that Emily is in daycare I know, but I want her to be with kids her own age and she's going to school with a lot of the kids that are in the daycare, so it made sense to me. And she's a bit of a crazy kid so it would be more difficult to look after the other kids while she's around."

"No, I completely understand."

"We should get going, it was lovely to talk to you, Edward, I hope to see you around again if my craziness hasn't scared you away," she joked.

"Of course, Bella, how about you give me your number and I'll give you a call sometime, maybe we can spend some more time together," I suggested, hopeful that she would be interested. I felt this connection to her and I really want to see her again.

"Sure, I'd really like that," she smiled at me.

**So, nothing too dramatic. Just a short one to start, I would love to hear what you all think of this. Let me know in a review. Hopefully the next chapter will be out soon. Thanks so much for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello everyone, **

**Thank you so much to all those who favourited and followed last chapter. An extra big thank you to those who reviewed! I really loved reading all of them, even if they were just simple. **

**I hope you enjoy this chapter, and please review at the end to let me know your thoughts :)**

Chapter 2: Meant to Be

**Bella**

I couldn't get him out of my head. The gorgeous guy who wanted to see me again even with all my evident baggage? It seemed too good to be true.

I got the kids home, put Kyle and Matt in their cribs since they were still sleeping, unpacked the groceries and Emily and I started making the cookies that we are going to be taking over to the neighbour who helped me move some of the boxes inside while we were moving in last month. I know it's a bit delayed but I've been busy and haven't had a lot of time for baking.

"Alright, my dear, what kind of cookies are we making today?" I asked.

"Hmmm… How about sugar cookies!" she exclaimed.

"Sound good, did you enjoy seeing your friend at the store today?" I asked her.

"Yes! Bella, she is my bestest friend ever, after you, cause you taked care of me when mommy and daddy were gone so you are my best best best friend in the whole wide world. And you gave me two little brothers to play with. Even though they're not my brothers really, they're my whats?" she went on.

"They're your nephews, because I am your sister and they are my children, but you know I consider you my big girl, right? And you can just call them your brothers for now, we'll talk about it when you're older," I smiled at her, she is literally the cutest child even, always so happy, it makes my day.

"Ok, Bella! I love you!" she said as she danced around getting things out of the cupboards.

"Love you too baby girl," I smiled as tears came to my eyes. I had been very worried about moving us back so close to where my parents raised me but now I knew I had made the right choice, we were happy here and it's a nice small town with an intimate feel.

An hour later we were both covered in flour and sugar with matching smiles on our faces as we pulled the last batch of cookies out of the oven.

"How about we get you a bath, I'll have a quick shower, we'll get the boys up and then we'll go give the cookies to Carlisle and Emmett?" I suggested.

"Yay! I love going to see people!" she exclaimed.

"I know you do, sweetie."

We walked up to the door of their house and I knocked. Emily was holding one tin of the cookies and I was holding the other. The boys were in their stroller amusing themselves with their toys. Whoever came up with toys that make noise when you shake them is a genius; my kids could be occupied for hours with those things.

A beautiful woman opens the door and says, "Hello, dear. Are you Bella? My husband and son told me about helping you move a few of your things into your new house. My name is Esme."

"Yes, I'm Bella; this is Emily, my sister, and my two sons, Kyle and Matt."

"Wonderful, well why don't you come in for a few minutes if you're not in a hurry," she opens the door wider.

"Oh, no thank you. We actually need to get going but I wanted to drop off some cookies to say thanks for the help."

"Well, thank you very much, dear. I will pass these on the Emmett and Carlisle, but please feel free to drop by anytime to say hi or to come in for a visit," she smiled.

"Thank you very much. I'm sure I'll see you around soon," I said as we turned and walked down the driveway.

"Where are we going now, Bella?" Emily asked.

"I was thinking that we could go to the park? There might be some swings there that we can use," I suggested.

"Yeah! Let's go!" and she was off.

After spending a while at the park enjoying the cool weather and the play structure we started our walk back home. After having a simple dinner of quesadillas and feeding the boys, I put them down on the floor in the living room and turned on the TV for Emily to watch while we all played.

I got a bunch of the toys out and put them around on the floor. Matt was lying on the ground on this back so I threw a small blanket over his head. This was one of his favourite games, he would start laughing and flailing his arms until the blanket came off and then he would smile at me and it makes everything I went through completely worth it. I still can't believe how my boys came into my life, some days I wake up thinking it was all just a terrible nightmare but then I get up and look around and realize that this is the reality of my life, but I really wouldn't change it for the world.

Early the next morning I was woken up to Emily's screaming and crying. I rushed to her room expecting to find her being scared awake from a bad dream.

When I got to her room, I saw her clutching her ears and thrashing against her bed.

"What's wrong, baby?" I asked as I scooped her up in my arms.

"Mommy..." she groaned. It wasn't a habit that I encouraged, her calling me Mommy, but when she was in pain she seemed to revert to wanting a mother and I was the closest thing she has to one. Without even remember our parents, she understand that mothers are there for comfort when you needed it. "It hurts!"

"What hurts?" I asked.

"My ears," she continued with tears still running down her face.

"Which one?" I started looking at her face and ears, feeling her forehead and checking over the rest of her body.

"This one," she pointed to her right ear.

"Alright, we'd better get going to the hospital to get you some medicine, you probably have an ear infection and the clinic isn't open anymore," I said. "Let's get you changed then I'll go get the boys."

Twenty minutes later we were sitting in the Emergency Room of the hospital waiting for a doctor to see us. Emily had, thankfully, stopped crying and was currently sitting, pulling on her ear and snuggling against me. Luckily, the boys didn't wake up when I moved them to the car and then into the hospital with us. I wasn't too happy about them being in this place with all sorts of germs everywhere but I didn't have any other options, I didn't know anyone in this town that might be able to watch them, especially in the middle of the night so here we were.

I had signed all the papers and got her registered so now it was a waiting game. There weren't very many other people in the waiting room so I was hoping that we could see a doctor quickly and get back home.

About half an hour later we were called back to a room by a nurse, who gave me a weird look when she saw me walking in with Emily and two baby carriers. I've gotten a lot of those looks over the past year, and they don't faze me anymore, people are just nosy and judgemental without knowing the whole story.

The nurse asked a bunch of questions about what Emily was feeling and finally left saying the doctor would be in soon.

Emily fell into a fitful sleep on the bed while we waited.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Cullen, wha- Bella?" I hear a voice as someone enters the room; and when I turned around I saw Edward there in a lab coat with Emily' file in his hand.

"Hi, Edward- er, Dr. Cullen," I said. "Emily has an ear infection, I think, she woke up screaming an hour ago and I would have just taken her to the clinic but it's closed at this time of night."

"You can call me Edward, its fine," he smiled at me gently. "Can you wake her up for me? It's good that she's sleeping but I need to check her out to figure out what's going on."

I woke Emily up gently and Edward started asking questions, "Which ear is hurting?"

She pointed again to her right ear then exclaimed, "You're Ashley's daddy."

"Well, I'm actually her uncle, but I saw you yesterday when we were both at the store, yes," he smiled back at her.

He started looking in her ear with some light thing, and then took her temperature. After a couple minutes he turned to me and said, "Well, it's an ear infection, she has a low fever, but that's normal when kids are sick, here is a prescription for her. The pharmacy right down the street is open 24 hours so you should be able to get it filled right away. If you can, I would highly suggest it so that you can get the first dose into her and she can hopefully get some more sleep."

"Ok, thank you so much, Edward," I said sincerely, relieved that it wasn't something more serious than an ear infection.

"Of course, Bella. I wish it were under better circumstances, and it's probably not very appropriate for me to say this, but I'm really glad to see you," he smiled at me.

I noticed that he had a beautiful smile.

"I was glad to see you too, Edward," I told him.

"You have my cell number, so if she starts to get worse or if her fever spikes, call me, I'm serious," he said seriously looking in my eyes.

"I will, thank you so much, you've gone way above your duty," I replied.

"Anything for you, Bella, I'll call you in a couple days to see how she's feeling and figure out when we can go out, does that sound alright?"

"Sounds perfect," I smiled and picked up the boys and followed Emily out of the room to the car. On the way home, we stopped and got her prescription filled. I put the boys back in their cribs and got Emily settled in her bed after taking her medicine before I finally collapsed back into my own bed.

Not an hour later, the boys woke up and wanted fed. The life of a mother…

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**Thanks for reading everyone, I really hope you enjoyed it and please leave a review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Here's another chapter. Hope you enjoy!**

Meant to Be: Chapter 3

**Edward**

I finally finished my overnight shift at the hospital and hoped into my car to get home to sleep as soon as possible.

I grabbed a quick breakfast and fell into my bed to sleep for a while before dinner.

I woke hours later feeling much better with a smile on my face. I can't believe I got to see Bella last night, although I'm not happy about Emily being sick, she's such a sweet girl. As I showered and got ready to go to my parents' house, I thought about when I would be able to call Bella without seeming too eager.

I walked out of my front door and over a couple streets to my parents' house. I liked that we lived so close but I still had my own space. I was really close to my parents growing up; they had instilled in my siblings and I the value of family. That was how we all ended up in this town.

My grandparents had retired to Forks from Chicago. Four years ago, my grandfather was diagnosed with cancer so my parents came to live with them for a while to help out my grandmother care for him. After he passed away, my parents decided to move here permanently to be closer to my grandmother, and they had fallen in love with the atmosphere and people in this town. At that point, I was in my third year of university and I was attending the University of Washington so the move put my parents closer to me.

Emmett, my older brother, was at university in Florida, where he met his now wife, Rose. When they got engaged they decided to move here to be closer to the whole family. They were planning on having a big family and they wanted their kids to be close to their grandparents. Rose's parents were never really involved in her life so they didn't feel any need to be anywhere near them.

My younger sister, Alice, had been living with my parents at the time, working as an esthetician at a salon and didn't feel like there was anything tying her to Chicago so decided to move here with my parents. After a month, she decided to move to Port Angeles, a near-by town, to work at a better salon than what Forks offers. She met her boyfriend in Port Angeles and they are now living together there.

Regardless of what is going on in all of our lives, we all make sure that we are Mom's for Sunday dinner every week.

I walked into the house without knocking as is the custom on Sundays, "Hi Mom."

"Edward! How are you, dear? Are you feeling alright after your overnight shift?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine. I'm mostly used to them by now, am I the first one here?" I asked.

"Yes, Alice and Jasper got stuck in a bit of traffic on the way here apparently and Rose and Emmett should be here any time. Would you like a cookie?" she passed me a tin with what looked like sugar cookies.

"Sure, these are really good, Mom," I said talking a bite.

"I didn't make them dear, the new lady and her children from a few streets over dropped them off because your father and brother helped her move some boxes when she moved in last month," she explained.

"You mean Bella? I ran into her at the grocery store yesterday with Ashley," I told her.

Before she could respond the front door opened and Emmett came barging in with Ashley on his back and Rose following close behind.

"We're here!" Emmett hollered.

Mom went to greet them leaving me in the kitchen with the cookies.

They eventually sauntered back in and Mom handed Emmett another tin, "these are from Bella, she wanted to say thank you for helping her move in."

"Oh, wow! Where does she find the time to bake with that many kids?" Emmett asked.

"I have no clue, I remember when I had all three of you I barely found the time to shower until your father got home none the less bake," Mom commented in awe.

"I'm pretty certain that she's a single mother, that's the impression I got when Dad and I were over there," Emmett inputted.

"You guys don't need to gossip about her, you know," I grumbled in an irritated tone.

"You're right, she may be new but we don't know anything about her so we shouldn't be making assumptions or talking about her," Rose agreed. I was a bit surprised that this came from her as she is not always the warmest towards new people, not that she's mean or anything.

"I suppose you're right, I invited her in when she dropped by yesterday but she couldn't stay. I think the little kids were sleeping," Mom said. "Maybe we should invite her over for dinner some time to get to know her."

Before anyone said anything else Alice and Jasper walked through the door shouting, "Mommy, we're home!"

Mom laughed and went to greet them. Just then Dad came in from the kitchen and told us that dinner was ready to be served.

We sat, ate and enjoyed our time together while Ashley entertained us with her theatrics.

"Ashley, dear, why don't you help me grab dessert," Mom said as she got up and sauntered into the kitchen with Ashley following her, that girl was always eager to help, especially when it involved dessert.

They brought out a pie, the cookies that seemed to fascinate everyone, and some mugs for coffee and tea.

We had all picked out our desserts when Jasper suddenly asked, "Where did you get these cookies?"

I was rather shocked at the force in his voice, "the new woman who moved into the old Patterson house dropped them by, Emmett and I helped her move in," Dad explained.

"Bella," Jasper whispered and took off like a shot out of the house.

"What in the world just happened?" Rose asked. We all seemed to look at Alice.

"I think that's the name of his best friend from high school, he told me she just disappeared after graduation because of a family tragedy and he hasn't heard from her since. Was that the woman's name?" Alice clarified.

"Yeah, she has three kids as well," Mom said.

"We should go over there and see what's going on," Emmett decided.

We got up and made our way over to Bella's. We got there just in time to see Bella opening the door to a frantic Jasper. As soon as he saw who it was he grabbed her and pulled her into his chest. I felt anger and jealousy swell up in my chest for some unknown reason.

"Aren't you even a little bit concerned right now?" Rose asked Alice.

"No, I'm secure in my relationship and I know they used to be really close and he was really torn up when she left so suddenly," Alice explained to all of us. "I'm sure he will explain once they get it all figured out."

I turned back to Bella and Jasper who were now speaking to each other quietly; I really wanted to know what they were saying but held myself back from going up to the porch.

They both turned towards us and I could see the tear tracks on both of their cheeks. What happened when they were younger?

"Ali," Jasper sniffled. "I want you to meet my best friend in the whole world Bella, we grew up together here and were inseparable until 5 years ago. Bella, this is my girlfriend Alice, we live in Port Angeles now."

"It's very nice to meet you Bella, it seems as though most of my family has already met you," Alice smiled.

"It's nice to meet you too, Alice. I've met most of them at some point over the past month," Bella laughed. "How did you know I was here?" She turned to ask Jasper.

"Esme had your sugar cookies, I would recognize their taste anywhere, still use your secret ingredient I see," Jasper joked.

"Of course, my mom taught me that secret," she laughed. "Why don't you officially introduce me to everyone?"

"Well, you know Esme and Carlisle, Emmett and this is his wife Rose, and their daughter Ashley, and Edward; Edward and Emmett are Alice's brothers," Jasper explained.

"Yes, I actually met Edward and Ashley at the grocery store yesterday and then I had to run Emily into the hospital overnight and I saw Edward again," Bella explained.

"Emily! Is the munchkin awake? Is she ok? Why did she need to go to the hospital?" Jasper worried.

"She's awake, I'll go get her for you, she's fine, she had an ear infection but Edward fixed her up with some medicine and she slept most of the day."

She disappeared into her house for a moment and then came back out with Emily.

"Em, this is Jasper, he's been my best friend since I was your age," Bella explained.

"I'm Emily, why don't I know you if you're Bella's best friend? I know everyone she knows," Emily was quite forceful with her statement.

"Well, I knew you when you were a little baby, before- uh…" Jasper didn't finish as he looked at Bella for guidance.

"Jasper knew you for about a year when you were just a little baby, remember what I told you about Mom and Dad, well I moved away from here after and I haven't talked to him since, that's why you don't know him," Bella answered. The more they talked back and forth the more confused I became. What happened to her parents that made her leave and not keep in contact with anyone? Where did the twins come into play?

"Ok, but you can't be her best friend, that's me, you can be her second best friend though," Emily pouted.

Jasper burst out laughing, "I can deal with that little one." He put his hand up for a high-five and she slapped it.

"Would you be so kind as to explain what is going on to those of us who aren't in the loop?" Emmett interrupted. Frankly I was glad because I really wanted to know what was going on…

* * *

**Well, there you go, hope you liked it; things are starting to come together now. Next chapter it will all start to make sense but I would love to hear your predictions. **

**Please review! Thanks for reading!**


	4. Chapter 4

**So this chapter is a lot longer than the others ones have been. Happy reading!**

Meant to Be: Chapter 4

**Bella**

Just as I was turning on the stove to start some pasta for dinner, I hear an aggressive banging on my front door. Who would be knocking so violently?

I saunter over to the door with a sense of unease, not sure what I was going to see when I opened it.

"Jasper?" I whispered.

"Bella!" he shouted.

"Shhh, the kids are playing and I don't want to startle them. What are you doing here?" I asked as he wrapped me in a massive hug.

"I was just having dinner with the Cullens when I found out you had moved back and couldn't wait any longer! It's been 5 years! What the heck, Bella? Why did you leave without even a word?" he demanded. His anger and confusion was completely warranted, I regret the decision I made every day since I've been gone.

"I don't know, Jasper, I'm really sorry, I didn't know what to do. I just wanted to get away from everything here that was reminding me of them," I tried to explain.

"You know, I tried to find a number to contact you, you sure know how to disappear!" he joked but I saw the tears running down his face that matched mine.

"That was the goal, I'm really sorry, I can't believe how big of an idiot I was to leave without even saying anything," I apologized.

"It's okay now, as long as you don't do it again!" he said.

"Never, I'm here indefinitely," I told him. "I'm so glad you found me, I didn't think you would be around this area anymore, I figured you would be on to bigger and better things."

"No, I struggled a lot after what happened with your parents and then not having you here anymore. Also, about a year later, my mom developed breast cancer and didn't make it. Dad and I were both pretty torn up so I just couldn't go too far." Jasper sniffled back the tears and I could tell that it was still a sore spot for him; I knew the feeling, you never really get over the death of a parent or loved one. "Want to meet some people who are really important to me?"

"Definitely!"

He turned me around still holding my hand and I saw that there were people standing on my lawn staring at us in varying states of confusion.

"Ali," Jasper started, "I want you to meet my best friend in the whole world Bella, we grew up together here and were inseparable until 5 years ago. Bella, this is my girlfriend Alice, we live in Port Angeles now."

"It's very nice to meet you Bella, it seems as though most of my family has already met you," Alice smiled.

"It's nice to meet you too, Alice. I've met most of them at some point over the past month," I said. I turned and looked at Jasper wondering how he found out that I was here. "How did you know I was here?"

"Esme had your sugar cookies, I would recognize their taste anywhere, still use your secret ingredient I see," Jasper joked.

"Of course, my mom taught me that secret," I laughed. "Why don't you officially introduce me to everyone?"

"Well, you know Esme and Carlisle, Emmett and this is his wife Rose, and their daughter Ashley, and Edward; Edward and Emmett are Alice's brothers," Jasper explained.

"Yes, I actually met Edward and Ashley at the grocery store yesterday and then I had to run Emily into the hospital overnight and I saw Edward again," Bella explained.

"Emily! Is the munchkin awake? Is she ok? Why did she need to go to the hospital?" Jasper worried.

"She's awake, I'll go get her for you, she's fine, she had an ear infection but Edward fixed her up with some medicine and she slept most of the day."

I walked back into the house and into the living room where Emily was playing contently with her toys not having noticed that I was gone. "Hey, Em, come on outside, I want you to meet someone."

"Ou! Ok! Who is it?" she asked excitedly, she really loved meeting people.

We walked back out to the front porch and I turned back to Emily. "Em, this is Jasper, he's been my best friend since I was your age," I told her.

"I'm Emily, why don't I know you if you're Bella's best friend? I know everyone she knows," Emily rather protective of me and the twins so the tone in her voice didn't surprise me a bit.

"Well, I knew you when you were a little baby, before- uh…" Jasper stopped suddenly and looked up at me, clearly asking what to say.

"Jasper knew you for about a year when you were just a little baby, remember what I told you about Mom and Dad, well I moved away from here after and I haven't talked to him since, that's why you don't know him," I explained to her.

"Ok, but you can't be her best friend, that's me, you can be her second best friend though," Emily pouted.

Jasper burst out laughing, "I can deal with that, little one." He put his hand up for a high-five and she slapped it.

"Would you be so kind as to explain what is going on to those of us who aren't in the loop?" one of the others said. I turned to see it was Emmett talking.

"Em, don't be rude, I'm sure they'll explain it all!" Rose told in him a forceful voice.

"That's my name!" Emily put in.

"Really? Your mom calls you Em, too?" Emmett asked.

"No, my sister does, my mommy and daddy went away when I was a baby, so now my big sister takes care of me and my ne-neph- What are they Bella?" she turned to look at me.

"Your nephews," I explained.

"Yeah! My nephews, and me and Bella all live together, she takes good care of me, we bake cookies and read stories and go to the grocery store! Ashley! I didn't see you, want to come play in my room? Can she, B?" Emily was a little chatterbox, I loved it.

"If she wants to, why don't you go ask nicely?" I prompted.

A minute later two little girls were running into the house up the stairs to Emily's room to play.

"Nephews?" Jasper questioned.

"Long story, how about you guys come in and I'll explain everything," I suggested as I started walking back into the house. "Shoot!" I bolted to the kitchen to find that the pasta is all burnt and wouldn't be any good anymore.

"Hmmm, I've never seen you burn anything," Jasper teased.

"Shut up," I poked my tongue out at him. "Seeing your best friend for the first time in 5 years kind of makes you forget anything else."

"Fair enough."

I turned to see everyone all staring into the kitchen, "You guys all make yourselves comfortable in the living room. I'll be right out."

I walked into the living room with a glass of water for everyone and some cookies on a plate.

"Edward, have a seat, I'm going to grab a kitchen chair for myself, I never expected to have so many people in my living room all at once," I told him as I noticed that he was standing leaning against the wall.

"I'll go grab it, you take the comfortable chair, it's your house," he smiled slightly at me but I noticed it wasn't his heartbreaking smile that I had seen before.

"Thank you," I said as he came back.

"Bella, before you start, I just want to say I'm sorry for assuming that she was your daughter, I hope it didn't upset her too much," Emmett declared sheepishly.

"Oh, hey, don't even worry about it, we get that all the time and kids are resilient, she doesn't even remember much about them so she's always proud to tell people that her sister takes care of her."

"Bella, I'm sorry that we just barged in like this, I hope we're not causing you too much of an inconvenience," Esme smiled gently.

"Oh gosh, no, you all apologize so much, it's really not necessary, this is how Jasper and I were raised, people just kind of drop by to visit and I love it, I'm glad to be back in a place where it stills happens," I reassured her.

"So, tell me about my nephews," Jasper perked up.

I laughed and suggested, "Why don't we start from the beginning so that everyone is caught up?"

"Alright, well, Bella and I grew up here in Forks together; our parents weren't really friends until we started hanging out together. We were attached at the hip basically, she made sure that none of the girls on the playground tried to kiss me, and I made sure the boys didn't pull on her braids," Jasper started.

"I was an only child until I was 16 then my parents told me they were pregnant again, I asked for a sibling for years when I was younger and nothing, but when I'm finally about to go away to college they have another baby. Anyways, I was shocked but happy, and Jasper was there the whole time, after Emily was born we babysat together when my parents needed a bit of a break," I paused.

"Did you guys date in high school?" Edward asked. I think I detect a little bit of jealousy, it's really cute.

"Gosh no! We could never! Jasper is like my brother! That's just a gross thought. No, we were each other's sounding board in regards to our dates before they met our parents. My dad was a cop here in Forks and my mom was a kindergarten teacher. They were pretty protective of me, so I didn't get too many dates throughout high school but the girls certainly loved Jasper," I joked.

"Oh, please, I told you that I threatened all the creepy guys that wanted you, that's why you didn't have too many dates, your parents had nothing to do with it but your father sure didn't complain when I told him. You don't know what teenage boys think, my dear," Jasper insisted. I gave him a look that said _And_ _you're one to talk?_

"So Emily was born a month before my 17th birthday and it was great, I mean the crying all night was difficult to get used to but I loved her so I put up with it. I left to go to Berkeley in California after our senior year. Jasper, as I'm sure you know, went to the University of Washington, we kept in contact and I really enjoyed my first term. When I came home to visit for Christmas my first year, my parents asked me to babysit on New Year's Eve because I didn't have any places to go out. From there the story is pretty typical, they were hit by a drunk driver on their way home. This town hadn't seen drunk driving in I don't know how many years until that night. I got a call at about 3 am to come to the hospital.

"When I got there they told me that Dad had died on impact, my mom was in a coma for a couple days when she finally woke up. She was devastated to find out about Dad. They had to take her into surgery because I guess something was wrong with the way her liver was functioning after the accident. She didn't make it through surgery; she bled out on the table." I stopped to try and keep the tears from falling. I've told this horrible story multiple times but it still gets me every time. The pain doesn't ever really go away, you just hope that time will make you feel better.

Esme came over and sat with me in the oversized arm chair I was in. She hugged me to her chest and let me cry for a few minutes while she rubbed my back and comforted me.

"Sorry about that, it's still painful to talk about," I gave a watery smile.

"Of course it is, dear, you've been through a lot in your young life," Esme calmed me.

"Well, I stayed for the funerals but couldn't stand the looks that everyone gave me. That's the only bad thing about small towns, everyone knows everything. Jasper's family had offered for me to move back in with them here or move in with him in Seattle if I wanted to switch schools but I didn't feel it was right to do that so in the middle of the night, I packed Emily and I up and left. I left a little note for Jasper and his parents explaining that I was thankful for the offer and their hospitality but couldn't accept. I actually went back to Berkeley, moved out of my dorm and into an apartment off campus. I changed my phone number and didn't leave a forwarding address with the housing office. I didn't really want anyone to know where I was.

"I finished my degree with Emily in a daycare that is catered to young mothers who are trying to go to school, the girls there were amazing and Emily loved it for the two and a half years she was there. I graduated a year early because I wanted to be done as fast as possible. I graduated when I was 20, I have a late birthday so I was really closer to 21 at that point. I haven't been back to Forks until I moved back last month."

"This may sound a little bit insensitive so you don't have to answer if you don't want, but where do the twins come in?" Alice asked.

"No, no, of course I'll explain. I met their father in my last year of classes. He was 3 years older than I was. He had taken a couple years off after high school to work before starting at Berkeley. He was in the same business program as I was. He asked me out and I was reluctant but he eventually convinced me. We went out on a few dates before I told him about Emily and my parents. He accepted it with no problem but I didn't want him to meet her yet," I explained.

"Bella, please tell me you didn't sacrifice everything for a guy," Jasper pleaded.

"Just listen, Jasper," I told him. "We had been dating for about 2 months when he started really pushing to have sex. The first couple times I told him no, he just laughed it off and said fine. One night when we were coming back from a date I explained to him that I wanted to wait until I was married to have sex. He blew up and started ranting about how could I expect him to wait that long for me, and why was I assuming that we were going to get married. He eventually left and I went back to my apartment and cried that night. It was the first time that I had to explain to a boyfriend that I wanted to wait; I assumed that since he took news of Emily so well that he wouldn't make a big deal of it but I was wrong. I'm a more traditional person and even though I might have lost my first real boyfriend because of my beliefs I wasn't going to give in and sleep with him. I was ready to never speak to him again.

"Matt called me a week later and said he was sorry and he could accept my values and he would wait for me. I shouldn't have believed him after his big blow up but I did. We went out a couple days later and went for a walk along the beach after our date. We went pretty far until we were in a really secluded spot. I should have known something was up but I didn't think about it at the time. We sat near some rocks that made bit of a cove where no one could see anything.

"He turned to me and said that this was my last chance to give in and sleep with him. I was shocked. I asked him what he meant, that he said he was okay with waiting. He just laughed and said he was never okay with it but wanted to know what I would be like having had a kid. At that point I was really confused. He thought I had lied and that Emily was actually my daughter but I didn't want anyone to know so I made up a story saying she was my sister. I got up and tried to run away but he blocked me in and I couldn't get away. I tried screaming and yelling but it didn't help once he put his hand over my mouth. He pulled our clothes off and raped me right there on the beach. When he realized that I was actually still a virgin I remember him saying something like, 'Oh, I guess you weren't lying.' But he didn't stop. He kept going until he was satisfied while I cried and tried to scream for help. After he was done, he got up and put on his clothes and left. I laid there crying for a while before I could finally get up. I went and got Emily from her babysitter and went home and cried all night long.

"A few weeks later I realized that I was pregnant. I wasn't on the pill at the time; I had no reason to be. Anyways, I hadn't reported it, I didn't want to cause problems and go through the whole process and having to see him again. I assumed that he wouldn't come around again now that he got what he wanted. I delivered about 9 months later and I had my little boys, Kyle Jasper and Jason Charles."

I looked around the room at all the faces showing varying emotions.

"Bells, really?" Jasper chocked.

"Yeah, of course, one of them had to be named after their Uncle Jasper," I joked as he got up and came over to hug me.

"It means the world to me, I hope you know that," he whispered.

"Yeah, I'm glad you get to meet them," I replied.

"Oh, Bella, I'm so sorry you went through all that," Rose commented. I saw some more nods around the room.

"Well, the way I look at it, I now have two wonderful sons who I wouldn't trade for the world. It's just been hard since to trust anyone, men especially," I told her.

"I honestly can't even imagine having gone through half as much as you have. You're such a strong person," Edward told me.

"Thank you, Edward, I honestly do it all for my kids," I smiled up at him. I knew that I needed to talk to him privately so that he knows he can back out for this date that we had tentatively set up. Now that he knows everything he'd be dealing with, I'm sure he probably wants out as soon as possible.

"Bella! I'm hungry!" Emily came running down the stairs with Ashley following closely behind. "And the boys are awake, I think they're getting hungry too."

"Ok, thank you for letting me know, baby. I burnt dinner earlier so I'll have to start some new, it should be about 30 minutes or so. Why don't you say goodbye to Ashley so the Cullens can get going? We need to monopolize their night any more than we already have," I told her.

"Bella, if you don't mind, would it be alright if we stayed a bit longer. You've got three hungry kids and we can all help out a bit, we would just be sitting at our house otherwise," Esme asked.

"Well, I don't want to pressure you guys but you're welcome to stay if you all would like," I smiled.

"Great, do you have any milk pumped? I could feed one of the boys?" Carlisle suggested.

"Sure, that would be greatly appreciated, thank you so much, Carlisle," I thanked him. I went upstairs to grab both boys, one on each hip as I walked back downstairs.

I handed Kyle to Jasper to hold and gave Jason to Carlisle. I went into the kitchen to grab two bottles and came back and handed one to Carlisle and the other to Jasper.

"Jasper, you have Kyle Jasper Swan right now, and Carlisle you're holding Jason Charles Swan," I explained.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" Jasper asked.

"Well Uncle Jasper, this is a bottle, this is how babies eat. Either that or breastfeeding, but I wasn't going to do that in front of everyone," I explained.

"And I will thank you for that. I'm aware of what it is, I used to watch you feed Emily, but what I'm asking is why you're giving it to me," he clarified.

"Well, I assumed you might want to feed him but if not you can hand him off to someone else," I told him.

"Well, I'm not quite sure I'm ready for that yet so I'm going to hand him off to someone else," Jasper barely finished before Alice was reaching for Kyle to feed him.

Jasper looked a bit shocked at her eagerness.

"You better watch out Jaz, looks like you might be having the baby talk soon," I joked.

"Shut it Swan, this is all your fault," he pouted.

"Oh, Jaz, you know that we'll have babies eventually," Alice piped up.

The look on Jasper's face was priceless, "Yeah, but not yet, right?"

Alice just nodded to confirm his statement.

Ashley and Emily were sitting with Emmett and Rose playing with some of the toys that were scattered across the floor.

I walked into the kitchen and started some new water boiling.

"Em, come set the table please," I called.

Emily and Emmett came walking into the kitchen. Emily was sitting on his shoulders and she was giggling up a storm.

"Oh, Emmett, I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting you to help out, have a seat," I insisted.

"Nonsense, both Ems can help set the table, little miss here is just going to show me where stuff is and we'll get going," he plucked Emily off his back and she started directing him to the cabinets to get anything out that they needed.

I started chopping some vegetables and put them into the pan to start cooking for the tomato sauce.

"Do you need some help?" I jumped as I heard Edward's voice behind me.

"Um, if you want, would you be able to put the pasta that is in the measuring cup there in the pot of water and just stir it up for me?" I asked.

He nodded and set about doing what I asked before turning back and watching me as I chopped more stuff and threw it into the pan.

Once everything was cooking, Edward and I sauntered back into the living room where everyone was sitting. The twins were just finishing up their feeding. It seems Esme finally got her hands on a baby and was now burping Jason.

I sat back and watched the group interact. Emily and Ashley were playing on the floor. Alice and Jasper were talking quietly while Kyle was still drinking his bottle, Emmett and Rose were watching the girls, Esme was still burping Jason and Carlisle was smiling blissfully at his wife. I finally looked at Edward who was staring right back at me.

"Come with me to the kitchen?" I asked quietly.

He got up and followed me. As I stirred the sauce and noodles he remained quiet, watching me.

"I, uh, I don't want you to feel like we still need to go out after I aired out all my dirty laundry. I know it's a lot to deal with and I won't blame you at all for backing out now. We can still be friends," I told him.

"Bella, when I asked you for your number, you weren't by yourself, your kids were there. I knew from the beginning that there were stories behind how they came to be and that didn't deter me at all. Why would you think that now I would?" he asked sadly.

"It's a lot more than me just having three kids now though," I explained.

"Maybe so, but now I really admire your strength and persistence more than anything. I still want to go out with you and get to know you," he insisted. "But I don't want to pressure you, if you don't feel comfortable then I'll back off."

"No, I would still like to go out with you. I feel comfortable around you," I told him.

"Good, I'm glad to hear that. So, now that you have six potential babysitters, do you think you might be interested in going out with me on Tuesday?"

"Well, as long as we're not burdening them so close to Christmas."

"I'm sure they would love to babysit."

"Ok," I said and reached up and kissed him on the cheek.

I drained the pasta and tossed it in with the sauce, as I turned to get the spices out of the cabinet I saw Edward with a huge goofy smile on his face and it made me happy.

Everyone walked into the kitchen then. I plated mine and Emily's food and asked if anyone else wanted any.

"We all had dinner before we came over. We were just having dessert when Jasper had a coronary," Emmett joked.

I pulled the chocolate chip cookies and date squares out and placed them on the table for people to help themselves.

"Oh, Bella must really like you guys, normally she keeps the date square sot herself," Emily trilled.

I laughed with her and then commented, "Well, I had two babies 8 months ago, I need to watch what I eat so I can get the rest of this baby weight off."

Edward scoffed and I turned and looked at him. He shook his head and smirked to himself.

"Bella, honey, I don't think you need to worry about baby weight, you look amazing," Rose said.

"Well, thank you, Rose, that means a lot coming from you," I smiled.

Eventually everyone decided that they needed to get going since it was getting late.

As everyone was starting to get up, Edward stopped, "Is anyone interested in babysitting on Tuesday night?"

They all looked around and gave him confused looks.

"Bella and I are going out if she can find a babysitter," he smirked.

There was a buzz, I think I heard Rose saying that Emily could have a sleep over with Ashley that night and Esme said that her and Carlisle would love to take the twins.

Jasper stomped up to Edward and said menacingly, "Now, after you find out everything about her past, you decide to ask her out?"

"Well, I actually asked her out when I saw her at the grocery store yesterday, and then again last night at the hospital, we just finally decided when to go."

"You watch yourself, Cullen, she's my sister and I will do anything to protect her," Jasper growled.

"That's exactly what Emmett and I said to you when you started seeing Alice," Edward laughed.

"Yeah, well I haven't have much time to come up with anything original, but I will not hesitate to hurt you if you hurt her," Jasper swore.

"I know, man," Edward said. "I understand where you're coming from, but you don't have to worry."

"Good."

I followed everyone to the door and said goodbye as they walked down my driveway. Edward stopped halfway to the sidewalk, turned back, jogged back to me at the door, gave me a kiss on the cheek and said, "Goodnight, gorgeous, see you Tuesday."

* * *

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